I'm in the process of renewing my insurance with Citybond Suretravel via the CTC website and have discovered that cycle touring is only covered when staying for 2 consecutive nights at a pre-booked hotel/campsite/hostel. I may well stay 2 or more nights on some tours but I hadn't realised that most of the tours I did last year where I moved on every night (isn't that what touring is about?) were not covered by the company. Can someone recommend a transparent travel insurance company?

With my insurance ("free" from Nationwide Building Soc. as we've a qualifying account) the accommodation must be pre-booked, the trip must be 2 nights or more but it is OK if you are at a different place each night (I checked when planning one trip). I expect other policies to be similar - but do check with your insurer to be certain.

You need to clarify if the consecutive nights have to be at the same place or if it can be at different locations as long as it is all pre-booked (it worked for us when I was checking up to see if we were covered for a weekend tour).

+1 for Insure and Go. My insurance needs are a bit different due to minor pre-existing medical conditions, but I've ended up with their gold annual insurance which allows for trips of up to 90 days, cycle touring covered without fuss. Also their backpacker insurance is available for anyone under 65, which is refreshing.

-1 for CTC Insurance (ie CitiBond)

The following general exclusion would apply to cycling: "Any involvement in these sports and/or activities is subject to your compliance with local laws and regulations and the use of recommended safety equipment (such as helmet, harness, knee and/or elbow pads)."

I tried to get a straight answer from CitiBond as to what they meant by recommended safety equipment for cycling, and who recommends it, and asked them to consider the four photos on the front of their own insurance brochure as examples. In the event of a large claim eg medical repatriation, would they consider the cyclists in photo 1 (helmet but dark clothing), photo 3 and photo 4 to be wearing recommended safety equipment and hence be covered. Their replies majored on compliance with local laws and regulations, ignoring the safety equipment bit, although they did say I had to use a "common sense" approach at one stage. Not good enough for me - no such bs (I hope) from Insure and Go.

I have a case with Citybond Suretravel at the Financial Ombudsman at the moment, due for a decision shortly. I bought CTC holiday cover provided by CS, for a CTC Lands End - John O'Groats tour last September, sold to me as suitable for the tour. The confirmatory email clearly states twice that it covers travel within Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. I hit a car and the insurers refused to pay up for damage to my steel frame (needs rebuilding), stating that exclusions in the accompanying policy (sent in a pdf) meant I wasn't covered:-- the exclusion was for 'a trip in your home area', which is defined elsewhere as the whole of the UK. So the exclusion excluded the whole of the policy itself.

UPDATE: The Financial Ombudsman has completely found in my favour and awarded the full £475 plus 8% interest.

Last edited by uppadine on 16 Jun 2012, 10:57pm, edited 1 time in total.

For my last european cycling holiday I insured with CTC Travel Insurance/Citybond Suretravel (the 'premium' level of cover, plus bike). Unfortunately I had an accident during the holiday and had to make a claim. My experience throughout the claims process was terrible and I will never insure with them again. My experience was so bad, I feel that the CTC should not promote this insurance and should end its involvement with Citybond immediately.

Brief details of the problems I encountered:1. The insurers/medical assistance company would not give a guarantee of payment to the hospital in France, which meant I had to pay 20% of the hospital bill (EHIC only covers 80%) before I could be discharged.2. Rightpath Claims, who handle claims on these policies, twice failed to send me the correct claim forms.3. Rightpath Claims said that one costly item (transport from hospital back to the tour group) was not covered, althoughthe policy clearly stated it was.3. It took a total of more than 9 weeks, many emails to Rightpath Claims, and finally escalation of my complaints to the Underwriters before I got a satisfactory response and my claim paid in full.

Also, I did not fully realise when I took out the cover, that every subsection had a £65 excess attached to it (£75 for 'standard' level of cover). This means that the policy is almost worthless if the loss/damage under each section is similar to the excess.

If you buy CTC Travel Insurance and think you are dealing with one company, think again. At least 6 different companies are involved:CTC Travel Insurance (the agents), Citybond Suretravel (the insurers), Aria Assurance (emergency medical assistance), Rightpath Claims (the claims handlers/assessors), SOLID (the underwriters), Opera (UK-based underwriters?). No wonder my experience was terrible!

Someone from CTC may see this (& may even respond) but it is not an official channel of communcation. In any case, if you have not already done so, it would be best to communicate your problems directly with CTC head office so they are aware of the issues you have experienced.